Guys we all are aware that the Christmas month has now approached us and we all have started making plans on how to celebrate it.
Christmas is not limited to a particular place, country, region or religion rather it is celebrated around the world these days and so we have this festival which marks the beginning of the winter season.
It is that time of the year when we have almost a week’s holiday so we all get a good time to spend with our near and dear ones, friends and relatives.
Most of us are always caught up in a hectic schedule of various activities starting right from Monday to Sunday night and have to start all over again in the same way because of which the precious time slips from our life and we fail to spend quality time with our family. Yet, we all acknowledge that spending a quality time with family is the best recreational activity and also the perfect way to show that we do care and love each other and everyone in the family is important for us.
Many families solve this problem by organizing occasional get together and small trips which allows them to get far away from day to day distractions of work and life and interact by building up new experiences together and experiencing life.
A recent research shows that families who spend time together share a strong emotional bond. Spending time with family reflects a sense of belonging and an enhanced communication, especially with children are less likely to have behavioral issues. Spending quality time alone with your spouse is significant. Getting enough couple time builds intimacy, opens communication and strengthens your bond, which in turn strengthens your marriage. So here are some tips for that: Recreate your first date and pretend as if its first time that you’re going out together. Make reservation and dress up smartly and do some romantic things. You can also create romantic moment by dancing together on some romantic songs. Plan a romantic vacation trip to some lovely place to spend special time with each other and celebrate Christmas. Plan each day in some unusual romantic way to make each other special. Book a concert and dine out. If possible, build up an excitement because the more you increase the suspense, the more momentous your night out will become.. Giving romantic messages, flowers, ornaments, etc. during Christmas can also be done.
Christmas is considered as the best time for a family get together. Disconnecting from everyday stress and connecting with life is the main thing which people usually do during festive holidays and being with family is the best thing you can do for spreading love, laughter, gratitude, warmth and smiles.
It is also said that your health reflects of whom you spend your time with.
This season, many of us would be spending Christmas with family. While some of us are excited for it, few ambivalent and others would be dreading it.
We all know that it needs some planning and preparations for spending time with our family and extended family so that we can enjoy and make every moment memorable not only for ourselves but for every member in the family by spreading happiness. The purpose of celebrating Christmas is also to create an atmosphere where every member of our family feels energetic and alive and important and for that we need to know about each and every family member first and also about their needs, likes and dislikes, their behavior and attitude so that we can provide them an atmosphere where they can feel wanted and lively. It is not always possible to make members of the family happy with just materialistic items; therefore, it is of utmost importance to know about each other in a perfect way.
As the holiday rolls around, there gets a long list of things we have to and wish to do on top of our daily responsibilities but it is equally important that we should take out time for our parents and our spouse as well to make their holiday special.
Here we bring you some wonderful ways for the festive season which you can consider for spending that quality time with your family which you have been waiting for:
HOW TO SPEND QUALITY TIME THIS CHRISTMAS WITH FAMILY
Organize a Secret Santa: It was seen that because of financial issues the family relationships were highly affected negatively at Christmas. Organizing a secret Santa is a perfect alternative to your financial issues which reduces the stress and it will surely serve as a fun activity to do together.
Introduce a “Phone Off” Policy: The little smart gadget is always a bane between quality family time. Therefore, by using phones off policy on your holiday get together; you and your family members are sure to find more time for each other in the moment. Instead of playing on mobile apps, organize competitions between family members in board games which involve as many members as possible. Monopoly is a fun game while sporting activities like cricket can bring you close to each other. You can also create teams and play Dumb Charades and conduct other such activities. The Nutcracker ballet is a timeless classic that is enjoyable by people of all ages may it be kids, youngsters or old age people in the West. Seniors may have seen it before, but it is available in many versions and so every time it’s a new experience.
Swap Gifts: Sharing gifts on festive season is a trend but when it comes to a family get – together you can take it a step further by having no gifts policy and instead of spending money on gifts, you can use the same money on organizing a small trip or family experiences.
Enjoy Outdoors: If you are planning for a whole week with your family and extended family then going outdoors is the perfect thing you can do. Although it needs planning and preparations but making sudden plans is something everyone likes and after all who doesn’t loves making such sudden plans for short trips? You can go for hiking or a camping trip or can also visit other cities and can enjoy a New Year party too; preferably in Goa or abroad. Going on a Vacation is good way to spend quality time with parents and the experience will be awesome for both. You can go anywhere but some extravagant like Hawaii or Costa Rica are really good options. A Local trip in the place where you live along with your aging parents to admire lawns adorned with elaborate lights and blowup decorations is another option. You may also spot a festive scene with fake snow falling onto the lawn which can be loaded with hot chocolate to make cold night enjoyable. Going for holiday shopping with your aging parents who often do not get out of the house to give them back their independence is also a good way to spend quality time together while purchasing. It’s a perfect holiday gift you can give by gifting them peace of mind.
Pampering parents by taking them to the spa or salon along with you is a very relaxing and the perfect opportunity to catch up with each other.
Have Meals Together: Sit with your family members during Christmas and have your Lunch and Dinner together. Include kids to make them feel special and also to show that no matter what you do love and care for them and have time for them always, especially if you are working. You can also take them out for dinner in their favorite restaurants and order the cuisines your kids love. If you are a homely person and love cooking, then show off your culinary skills and make some amazing cuisines at home along with cakes and desserts. Invite your extended family home and have a Gala time. You can even cook the favorite recipes of few members at a time together. Include your kids and teens in the house for baking a Christmas cake for the family. Share ideas for decoration with toppings and try experimenting together. Baking is an important holiday activity method to bring people together whether its preparation of Christmas dinner or baking cookies. This is a great opportunity to share family recipes and make the house smell incredible.
Sharing: For creating memories, the key ingredient is sharing. By offering a common ground of experience and knowledge, traditions make sharing easy. For example: Making a Christmas cookie, discussing and sharing the techniques, recipes and ingredients, decorating them in a way that will be liked by everyone. It contains a shared expectation of time and method the tradition takes place and each role being played individually.
Catch a Movie: Hollywood as well as Bollywood has thrown us a lot of wonderful movie options, this season because it is one of the most wonderful times of the year which is enjoyed by every member of the house. Plan a movie with your family and enjoy a wonderful time.
Share Stories: Share Christmas and the stories related to the festive season with kids in the house. Make them aware about the importance and relevance of Christmas to increase their knowledge and educate them. You can also share family stories with everyone in the family. Let the elders start by sharing their experiences about life and Christmas and how with time things have changed. Use photo albums and share old pictures with everyone.
Celebrate and Appreciate: Keep a track of anniversaries, birthdays and other functions in the house and celebrate it together. Appreciate the workings done by kids and teenagers and make them feel special.
Sing and Dance: This is one of the best things you can do when you are with your family. Get a bonfire and some musical instruments and dance to the beats of some wonderful music and lyrics. Do not forget to record videos and photos.
When you are with your extended family to celebrate Christmas, the sounds of carols, watching your favorite movies and perhaps the aroma of one’s favorite food is what everyone looks forward to. Amidst, these wonderful sights and sounds in front of us, there lays a possibility of old hurts and unpredictable personalities which makes Christmas a complete mess.
Every family has their own Stuff and a kind of stuff which makes you feel that you belong to some other family. However, the possibility for things to go well also exists and here we are giving you few important tips which you can consider:
Be Fair To Yourself: It might sound childish but is actually the most important thing. A tip for starters, we can be fair to our self by knowing what we want for Christmas. Do we personally want to go along with certain family traditions or do we want memories of sharing recent positive and memorable occurrence and reflecting on fond memories? Always remember that you do have a choice on how to invest your life, time and heart.
Set Timelines: Be fair with yourself and limit down your time with those who don’t want the same things and despite your attempts they derail positive interactions. Knowing about your arrival and exit time is the best way which can be helpful for you. Make sure that you are not trapped and dependent on someone to make an exit is necessary. Make a timely exit.
Be fair To Others: It is as important as being fair to ourselves. People tend to change. Find the best time to address the unaddressed issues about which you have imagined worst case scenarios. Spending years wishing bad for those who have done bad to you and writing people off is not a perfect solution either. It will only increase the odds of the hurt in your life. Make sure you pay a close attention to the next tip until you can confidently assess if someone is a safe person around you.
Define Your Contributions: Knowing what you bring to a family gathering is invaluable, whether one give gifts or just exchanges warm hugs with kind words. You can not only avoid the pressure of getting into a debt by appreciating that the small and the best things in life don’t cost money. Decide on how you are going to interact with the other person. Even if you plan and are prepared for an early exit, Baked Goods, Homemade Card, Kind Words, Wishes and Prayers for Health and Prosperity are the best ways to contribute to the family.
Be Safe: The huge part of deciding how to be fair to one self and to others is knowing whether or not someone is capable, desirous ad ready for a change because we do not have time to get into knowing where someone is at the spectrum of change so it is important to play safe. If you are at the risk of any kind of sexual, physical and emotional hurt then be prepared and take appropriate precautions and actions. If someone has sexually or physically abused or hurt you in the past, it is recommended to not be in their presence, especially, if you feel that there is a chance of it happening again and if you feel safe in the presence of that same person then still it is recommended to keep at least 1 safe person with you all the time. If there is no one to trust then only you can decide whether attending is worth it or not.
Be Proactive: This is the last tip and the most important one as it incorporates all the other tips. Take your time to think everything in advance because finding a balanced view and approach to one’s family is not an easy task. To give you the desired space to express yourself and think critically about the family, talk to someone who has enough distance as well as wisdom from the situation you are in. Spending time with family and creating memories is a positive and a wonderful activity to take part in and it can be enhanced when woven with family traditions. It’s time for you to start your get – together planning and finalize a family meet for creating memories and enjoying Christmas and New Year as well in a way which you have always been waiting for. Remember it is still not late to create your memories this year. Once you create a wonderful memory, you will crave for creating some more memories too and additionally you can pass it down from one generation to another and help preserve the sense of lineage which is unique to each family’s namesake.
Here you have ways to make member of every age happy during this Christmas. Out of above ideas some of them can be used to spend quality time with family as well like dine out, family vacation trip, giving lovely messages, gifts etc. Christmas is just few days away and all are making plans to spend some quality time with their loved ones, but if in case your family is big and across other countries and continents then it is hard to gather everyone in a place for a proper family celebration. In this case you can send Christmas cards, emails, texts and even call.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
